GOGGLEBOX favourite George Gilbey’s devastated mum told tonight how his last words to her before his tragic death were: “I love you.”
Heartbroken Linda McGarry– on the Channel 4 show with George– said the dad of one, 40, rang her hours before he fell 80ft from a warehouse roof he was working on.
Linda, 74, of Clacton, Essex, said: “He was happy. He ended the call with ‘I love you’. I treasure those words.”
George died trying to earn cash so he could move nearer his daughter, his devastated mum also revealed.
Linda told how he was desperate to help co-parent his beloved seven-year-old, Amelie.
Speaking for the first time since the tragedy, heartbroken Linda, 74, said: “It was an honour for him to have been my son. We had a blast for 40 years.”
Linda said he was forever fussing over her after she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s — but he had struggled financially and was battling demons of his own.
She told how he had stayed with a relative the night before he died, but called her on the fateful day.
She recalled: “He phoned me at 9.30 on the morning and said he was working — and asked me for his ‘breakfast money’.
“I put £30 in his account so he could get food, and he seemed fine.
“He had a drink the night before, and liked a bottle of white wine or two, but was happy that he was working. He ended the phone call by saying, ‘I love you’ like he usually did. I treasure those words.”
George — paid £100,000 for his stint on CelebrityBig Brother in 2014 — had recently lived with Linda in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.
He was on a carer’s allowance of around £190 per month following her Parkinson’s diagnosis.
And Linda revealed he was working when he died to raise money to move closer to Amelie, who lives with her mum Gemma Conway in South West London.
She said: “George was trying to get money together to get a room.
“He was going to rent from his friend, Skippy, near to Amelie in Twickenham.
“George was on great terms with Gemma and wanted to do things like pick Amelie up from school.
“He wanted to be with Amelie, who he adored.
“They were on the third day of a job that was going to last a month, and he was going to get money together from that.
“When they were together, George and Amelie were always laughing. She is going to miss him terribly, like we all will.”
George was fixing a roof at EGL Homecare’s warehouse in Shoebury, Essex, when he fell 80ft to his death on March 27.
An inquest was opened then suspended. A man in his forties has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter and released under investigation.
Linda — who dashed to the scene with a friend after being told the news— said: “When I got that call, it was horrendous.
“It did not feel real and we raced to the site, thinking that he was still alive. They stopped us going in and sent us to a hospital.
“The police met us at Southend Hospital, and told us he hadn’t made it. I kept thinking it was not real, and still feel like it is not.”
He was happy. He ended the call with ‘I love you’. I treasure those words
Linda McGarry
Linda said she fears George — who started working as a roofer when he left school at 15 — died because there was no safety netting.
She said: “He was up there fixing the roof. Apparently he stepped on a weak bit of roof and there was no netting. I don’t think it was safe.
“I think it was instant, and hope it was so he didn’t suffer.”
George shot to fame on Gogglebox in 2013 but left to appear on Celebrity Big Brother.
However he then blew a lot of his money and was badly affected by the loss of his dad Jim aged 75 in 2017.
He also struggled after stepdad Pete, 71 — who appeared with him on Gogglebox — passed away in 2021, and was then rocked by his mum’s diagnosis.
GEORGE’S STRUGGLES
Linda said: “When George went on Celeb Big Brother, I was so proud of him.
“He got a lot of money from that but spent it within three months.
“He went to Dubai, and also went out clubbing, partying and gambling here. He was an ordinary boy and always thought something else would come along. But he went back to normal life, and he really did have his struggles.
“George liked to drink a bottle or two of white wine, and had a bottle of wine almost every night.
“But a lot of his struggles were linked to the loss of his dad, and then Pete and then my diagnosis.
“When Pete died, he was devastated and was crying all the time.
“Pete had become the father figure in his life. He was given a diagnosis with six months to live, then went in three weeks to bowel cancer.
“So nobody had time to come to terms with it. George then took my Parkinson’s diagnosis worse than me.
“He would fuss over me, change my bedding and do my shopping.
“He was always nagging me to remember to take my pills. George was very kind and had a heart of gold.”
George met Gemma at Ascot in 2014, and Amelie arrived in 2016. He then returned to Gogglebox before leaving again in 2018.
That year, George was convicted of a domestic violence offence after a bust-up with Gemma at their home in Twickenham.
He was serving a community punishment when he was caught drink-driving in 2019 and jailed for three months.
George was due to get his licence back in November, and hoped to find work as an electrician.
George was very kind and had a heart of gold
Linda McGarry
Linda said: “The incident with George and Gemma had been forgotten and they were on great terms.
“Gemma gave a lovely speech at the funeral and made promises to Amelie on his behalf. And George deeply regretted drink-driving.”
Linda has been buoyed by a collection for George’s funeral, which raised more than £7,000.
She said: “The funeral was fantastic — I have never seen anything like it. There were 400-500 people there.
“We had told Amelie we were having a party to celebrate George’s life, and that’s what it was.
“My George will never be forgotten. Everyone had a story about him, and he was a one in a million.
“I’m so lucky to have had him.”
He held my hand in last pic together
DEVASTATED Linda wept clutching a last picture of her and George — showing them holding hands as she belted out karaoke.
George, 40, was out with his 74-year-old mum on Saturday March 23 — four days before he died.
The image shows the loving bond between the pair at Oakmead Social Club in St Osyth, Essex.
Linda said: “I was up there singing My Little Red Book and he came to join me — that’s what he was like. I looked round and he was holding my hand.”
Linda also recalled George’s eccentric side.
She said: “Everyone has a funny story about him.
“He was a bit mad. Last year, he found a dead baby seal washed up on the seashore near our house.
“He brought it back to the house, saying, ‘It’s not fair, it’s been hit by a speedboat or something’.
“He wanted to call the RSPCA and to save it.
“But it had flies all over it and I could see it was dead — so made him take it back!#
“Another time a friend invited him for a barbecue and told him to bring a bottle.
“So he took a bottle of cooking oil. Gemma used to say ‘he always fell into a pit of snakes and came out wearing snake-skin boots’. But sadly this time he didn’t.”